By Henry Jackson

The 35-year-old defender is disappointed his side have not challenged for Champions League qualification, and also discusses his early days at the Nerazzurri

Inter defender Walter Samuel has lamented his side’s inconsistent form this season which looks set to force them to miss out on Champions League football next year.

The Nerazzurri find themselves eight points adrift of Milan, who currently lie in the all-important final Champions League place in third, and Samuel says their form simply has not been good enough.

"We've lacked consistency. We could have won against certain teams, but didn't. Now we're kicking ourselves,” he said to Inter Channel.

“Coming third would have been a great achievement because this has been a year of great change. We mustn't look for excuses because we don't want to feel sorry for ourselves, but the fact that so much has changed means that we might have expected a difficult year.

“We wasted a good opportunity against Atalanta, we were winning but made mistakes at the back. Had we won that match we'd have still been in there."

Samuel also discussed the start of his Inter career, and how the Argentine element within the squad helped him settle in the early days.

"When Inter came calling eight years ago I felt happy and proud because there was a bit of Argentinian history at this club, there had been - and indeed still are - many Argentines here," said the 35-year-old.

"When I came to Inter I wanted to show that I could play for a big club. I just like playing football, that's something you should never lose sight of, even when you reach the top level and the pressure increases."